Palladium thin ®lm deposition from liquid precursors on polymers by projected excimer beams

Palladium thin ®lms are deposited on polyimide (PI) and mylar (PET) surfaces from a solution by employing XeCl and KrF excimer lasers. The substrates are plunged in a [Pd(NH3)4]2‡/HCOH system, and an illuminated diaphragm is projected onto the polymers through the precursor layer. Due to the incident laser beam, chemical reactions take place at the solution/ polymer interface, yielding thin Pd ®lms on the surface. The formation and thickness of the Pd layer depend on the numbers of pulses, laser ¯uence and wavelength of the laser. The formed metallic, adhesive, and homogeneous Pd deposits are found to be suitable for further electroless copper deposition. Techniques such as DEKTAK pro®lometry, optical microscopy, FESEM (equipped with EDX) and XRD are involved in the determination of morphological, structural and compositional characteristics of the deposited layers. # 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved